March 17, 2008, 5:01AM

In Sunday's Living section, we published a selection of limericks that began with the assigned line, "There once was a crescent-shaped city." Today, we offer a sampling of local limericks that employ opening lines of your own choosing. A selection of our favorites appears below. To read others, as well as the limericks that appeared in Sunday's paper and... Full story »

March 17, 2008, 5:00AM

There was a young man from Treme Who put up a St. Patrick's display Made of butter and lard In his front yard, And the next day it melted away. John Fitzpatrick, Ocean Springs There once was a city so fair With neither a worry or care Since Sidney the man Cleaned it up spic and span And now we... Full story »

March 16, 2008, 5:01AM

There once was a crescent-shaped city Whose newspaper asked for a ditty A limerick quite snappy Would make all and one happy And prove that its readers are witty Glyn R. Miller We asked you to get your Irish on, and, boy, did you ever. Our request for reader-generated, New Orleans-themed limericks produced nearly 500 original rhymes, some of... Full story »

March 16, 2008, 5:00AM

There once was a crescent-shaped city, For a time, it drew most people's pity. But after a while, 'Crescent' turned to a smile ... And its shape just encouraged this ditty. Doug Harris, Stockton-on-Tees, England There once was a crescent-shaped city Whose streets had been dirty & gritty But all are now clean And looking serene So she no longer... Full story »

March 11, 2008, 4:30AM

By Theodore P. Mahne Contributing writer If opera were a baseball game, then baritone Mark Rucker would be the Cal Ripken of Rigolettos. This Iron Man of opera has performed the title role of Verdi's grand tragedy nearly 400 times. "And I still don't know everything there is to know about the character," he said recently before "Rigoletto" rehearsals with... Full story »

March 10, 2008, 4:40AM

By Katherine Reynolds Lewis Newhouse News Service Office romance often brings to mind an adulterous affair or supply-closet rendezvous à la "Grey's Anatomy." But people who met a soulmate at work are fighting to change that rap, which discourages many from dating a colleague. They tout the workplace as the ideal venue to get to know possible partners. "The... Full story »

March 10, 2008, 4:20AM

Coming next week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day: a page full of New Orleans-themed limericks. But we need your help writing them. We'll give you the first line: "When down to New Orleans you go ..." You send us the rest. Or, if you have another limerick in mind, send that along instead. The only rules are that it... Full story »

February 28, 2008, 5:00AM

By Theodore P. Mahne Contributing writer When Puccini's "Tosca" premiered in Rome in January 1900, one critic notably dismissed it as a "shabby little shocker." Through repeated traditional stagings, some of that shock value has been lost over the years, but as it opens its new production this weekend, the Jefferson Performing Arts Society hopes to give audiences a newfound... Full story »

February 17, 2008, 3:25AM

By Larry Blumenfeld Contributing writer One striking absurdity of the National Basketball Association is this fact: The team from Utah wears the jerseys emblazoned with "Jazz." That name originated in New Orleans, of course, where the Jazz played its first five seasons in the late 1970s. Back then, the shirts made fundamental sense -- and not just as a nod... Full story »

June 10, 2007, 3:00PM

It is a by-now familiar recovery story: a once-thriving property laid to waste by the storm, vacated by its owner, unoccupied for months, sold and restored to its previous purpose, if not quite its former glory. Full story »